UNBELIEVABLE

worth•less –adjective: without worth; of no use, importance, or value; good-for-nothing


Such a good definition for our government.

I don't even know where to begin.....

Thanks, Obama, for killing our economy and encouraging feelings of entitlement. Thanks for nationalizing our healthcare system and thanks for requiring me to purchase insurance. Thanks for creating dumbass programs that are bankrupting our states and even faster our federal government. Thanks for saving your own butt and reputation by following through with your campaign promises. Thanks for not looking ahead at the future of our small businesses and economy. You won and the American people lost.

I believe the government has no right telling me that I have to buy health insurance. I don't think they have any right requiring me to do anything. Leave well enough alone and the economy (and all the stupid people it in) will correct itself. Let the grim housing market correct itself. The government has no right providing subsidies, homebuyer tax credits, loan modifications, healthcare and even free lunches. Leave us alone and allow things to correct themselves! Small businesses are facing the highest taxes and mandates in history thanks to the Obama administration. They are being forced out of business-- I know this first-hand. Sole proprietorships, LLCs and so many others are being taxed something like 45% of their gross income. REALLY? They are supposed to pay employees, invest in their own business and pay bills on the remaining 55%. That's NOT possible-- not now, not ever. Who thinks this stuff up? What kind of person can sleep at night knowing they are ruining the very existence of our country. Everyone has to start somewhere right?! Small businesses are the origin of our economy!

I could really go on and on about this. It’s unbelievable how wrapped up these legislators are in their own worlds. Wake up and look ahead to the future and what you’re destroying!

So close-- yet so far

WE GOT AN OFFER ON OUR HOUSE YESTERDAY!!! I've been waiting over three years for this to happen! I took the day off of work yesterday, and Miike also happened to have the day off, so we went shopping and got my car serviced and took care of other random things that we both don't have time to do otherwise.
Back to the offer-- our realtor called me and said that we had an offer, only the number wasn't what we were expecting. A full $24,000 below our asking price or about 18% below. Pretty insulting. So we countered, and heard back late lastnight that the man countered our counter offer and we just put in another counter offer this morning. So, most of yesterday afternoon I was fidgeting and biting my nails and pacing-- just waiting to hear that I could start packing my boxes. Now, we'll have to wait another couple hours or day or two just to hear back again. Ugh. I'm sure he won't like out counter-counter-counter offer (does that exist?!), but it is the absolute lowest we can possibly go. At this price we have to bring in about $15,000 of our own money just to get out of this house! AWWW! Scary. Then we'd have to build up savings for a down payment and then tackle buying a new house. It's such a depressing situation to lose sooooo much money on a house. The only thing that makes us feel good about doing that is how much we'd make up on the other end. Buying so much more house for not so much $$$$.
We're soooooo close-- yet so far away because there's a number that this guy is looking for and we have no idea what it is, and if/when he walks away all my hopes of selling our house vanish-- just like that. We've never gotten an offer on our house, and to be so close to selling it gives me anxiety because I want out!!!!! I want to buy a new house away from neighbors and streets and lights (can you tell I'm a country girl??!) and closer to work.
Everything happens for a reason, right? So, this will work out as God intended. I'm just hoping I agree with His way.
Crossing my fingers and toes and whatever else brings us tons of luck!

Times they are a-changin'

I met a Prius on my way home tonight that was being used for drivers training. Really?! A Prius? Grown adults can barely drive those cars (ahem-- you know who you are!) let alone a 15-year-old kid! You've got to be kidding me! Are school districts taking my taxpayer money and buying robots for cars to be used for drivers training????? What happened to driving a nice, normal GASOLINE powered car? These cars have batteries the size of a human being, touch screen dashboards and every other nuisance distraction that brand new driver should not be dealing with. Do they really need to have a dust and pollen filtration system when they are learning how to drive? What kind of a person would want to train a new driver in one of these cars, anyway? You have to jump through hoops, know special codes and have your fingerprints identified just to start the car. Well, maybe that's a slight exaggeration, but really-- a Prius for drivers ed????!
When I took drivers education, I drove a Malibu, a nice normal American-made car. No over-sized batteries, no touch screens and nothing voice-activated. "Hybrid" and "efficient" weren't listed in the feature and specs for this car, or any other car out driving the roads at that time. I run the risk of dating myself, but we barely had cars with remote keyless entry, let alone cars that ran solely from battery power!
Seeing a Prius being used for drivers ed training made me slightly annoyed. What happened to training in a normal sedan? The majority of kids will never drive anything with a touch screen and a pollen filtration system for years and years to come, so why start them now?

The best part of winter

My parents' house turns into my sanctuary at times. I love being there.
A few weeks ago there was a full moon on a Friday night. The temperature was about 3 degrees, but it was calm and completely clear. How could I resist a romp in the woods in the dark with the dog? So, Mike suggested that we head over to my parents' house and have a campfire in the woods. We have a spot in the woods, back on a hill where we have campfires in the winter. We can't have fires there in the summer because there's too much grass and too many trees that risk catching fire. But, it's the best place in the winter because it's on a hill and there's no trees right above our fire place.
That night was so bright that I could have read a book sitting out there. It was great! Mike and I gathered some twigs and branches and built a fire. My dad and brother came out with the dogs and we just sat around chatting and marveling at the stars and the bright moon. You can't beat that. We didn't even notice how cold it was.
What I love about this kind of night is that I can lay in the snow on the hill under the stars and stare at them for hours. No joke. I love it! I'm a country girl who belongs outdoors. I take every chance I get to get outside, especially at night when the stars are out. That's one thing I will never take for granted. The night sky is amazing!

I think I'm growing up

My sister is getting married.
My brother is buying a house.
Another friend is pregnant.
All news I've received in the last six days. On Sunday I was hit pretty hard with my sister's news and the news of another pregnancy. I even cried when my sister announced that she was engaged. I totally wasn't expecting it, and still don't know what I'm supposed to think about it all. My family first me Chad (her fiance) in August and now five months later he's going to become a family member. It's a little too much for this older sister to take. I'm happy-- don't misunderstand me. I'm a little stubborn when it comes to change I don't choose. I admit that. So, we've got a wedding to plan for sometime in August!!!
I'm not even supposed to say which friend is pregnant, atleast not until later this weekend after Mike finds out. It's a family member of Mike's. Ahhh! More babies in the family! Better her than me, thank you.
Now, this news of my brother buying a house is nothing I've been officially told. Thank you  facebook for giving me information! I'm disappointed that he didn't tell me in person, and that I found out by his girlfriend's posting along with the rest of the world. This announcement I have mixed feelings about also, none of which I'm going to get into.
None of this news is totally life changing for me. It just solidifies my getting older.....
Ugh. I'm not supposed to be old enough to have siblings getting married and buying houses, even though they are capable individuals. I don't even feel old enough to have a normal job and a house to pay for and all those "grown up" tasks! Actually, I'm exagerrating, but time flies by so fast that you don't notice the little things that compound and slowly change the things and people that surround you. Or maybe I'm just too stubborn?

My dog wears shoes.....

I bought my dog boots today. Well, actually I've bought her boots twice before, this time they actually fit her.
I think finding a dog boots is harder than buying shoes for a child! I looked at Cabelas, Gander Mountain and Scheels and then finally found some in her size that fit her correctly at Petco. It's not that I think dressing a dog is super cool, it's that when we go for walks in the winter and she steps in slush she dances around for a minute or two afterward alternating which paw she holds up because it makes her feet cold and stick to the ground. I think anyway-- she won't tell me why! So, I simply solved the problem.
I felt kinda bad tonight walking her because she slipped on the icy spots numerous times. When I first put the boots on her, she didn't even want to get up, and it took a few minutes before she walked like normal, but then I think she may have forgotten they were on.
Mike has yet to see that his hunting dog was wearing snow boots. He was against me finding her some hunting boots two years ago because he thought it was stupid for a dog to wear them, and he told me he'd never take the time to put them on her. Then she came back one day with a bad cut on her paw pad. I got the OK to find her boots, but never got around to buying them.
So, now my dog's wardrobe consists of snow boots, a winter jacket, a rain jacket and a sweater. All of which I slowly phased in so Mike wouldn't make a stink about it!
It's all in good fun! :) Happy walking to me!

ode to my Christmas tree

I just finished packing all my Christmas things up for another year. :( Sad!
But, I need to compliment my Christmas tree for turning out so awesome-- and myself for decorating it! hehe! This tree is by far my favorite of the last five years. I used browns and golds this year with pheasant feathers and LOVED how it turned out. I try to use a different theme and color each year. I've had a baby blue tree, a red one, a gold one, and last year was purple, hot pink, lime green and blue.
On an unrealted note-- I'm super bad at blogging, it turns out. The last thing I want to do when I get home at night is sit in front of the computer. And, lately we've been so busy running around that I don't have time even on my days off. Grrrrrr. I'm hoping that January brings a few boring weekends so I can catch up on some things.